American Idol Season 11 Finale Recap: And the Winner Is... [Updated]

If the Phillip Phillips-vs.-Jessica Sanchez showdown of American Idol‘s eleventh season was an apples-vs-oranges kind of affair, then tonight’s season finale — featuring the inarguably terrific Top 13 12* — was a weird and occasionally wonderful smorgasbord. (*Uncle Nigel: “Jermaine Jones was just a figment of your imagination!”)

We had Season 3 champ Fantasia Barrino in a Crystal Gayle wig and, um, unfortunate spangled catsuit with side-leg cutouts (!) grabbing Joshua Ledet and turning the Nokia into a beautiful, howling messerie. We had John Fogerty, Reba McEntire, and Jordin Sparks dueting with Season 11 standouts Phillip Phillips, Skylar Laine, and Hollie Cavanagh. (More on those performances — including letter grades — a little later in this recap.)

Marriage was “spontaneously” proposed (said spontaneity almost certainly practiced and perfected in the office of Ace Young and Diana DeGarmo’s publicists). The phone book was sung. (Randy Jackson: “Literally!”) Too many medleys robbed us of individual moments for Elise Testone, Erika Van Pelt, Colton Dixon, and Skylar (who should’ve gotten two numbers, no?). And Rihanna and J.Lo showed us exactly why it’s Idol alumni — and not many of today’s “regular” chart-toppers/floor-writhers — who are the go-to candidates when it’s time to belt the National Anthem at the start of most televised sporting events.

And then Jennifer Holliday and Jessica Sanchez tore the face off of music as we know it, flipped it, revesed it, performed an exorcism on it, and made it whole again. Or something insane like that. Mama Holliday scared the tarnation out of me, and I loved it.

I could’ve/should’ve blacked out when the performance was finished, but there was still the matter of crowing the American Idol season 11 champ.

Dim the lights, Kieran! Your new American Idol is…Phillip Phillips! Congrats, sir, and be thankful you got the first decent coronation single in Idol history. There really are no boundaries anymore. Maybe not even at alternative/rock radio? (I know, I know, but I’m an optimist at heart.)

But before we start mullipng P2’s future, let’s review the night’s disparate and many performances:

The Top 12 (minus the Top 2), “Runaway Baby” I can’t lie and say I didn’t like this better when Joshua covered it by his lonesome a few weeks back. (Proof that one voice can be more powerful than 10.) That said, who knew Skylar was so adept at group choreography? And who’d have guessed Mr. Ledet would get his SYTYCD on and wind up falling on his butt? (E for effort, though!) Grade: B-

Phillip Phillips & John Fogerty, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” I couldn’t not love how genuinely excited Phillip looked sharing the mic with the CCR frontman for this performance, but why cover something P2 already sang just a few weeks ago? It’s not like Uncle Nigel couldn’t shake out the couches in J.Lo’s dressing room and clear a half-dozen new ditties for the finale, right? That feeling of déjá vu, combined with just a slight lag in energy, left me spending too much time focusing on what was around Fogerty’s neck (a black rubber bandana, maybe?) and not enough on the music. Grade: B

Phillip Phillips & John Fogerty, “Bad Moon Rising” Aha, now that was more like it. This swampy stomper fit Phillip’s vibe like a teaspoon fits a jar of peanut butter during midnight snacking hour. And the Phillips-Fogerty chemistry definitely benefitted from having a warmup number, too. I just wish the dudes had made it a trip (that’s a typo for “trio,” but “trip” works fine, too) by waving up Carrie Underwood, who jammed out and sang along from her seat in the audience. Grade: A-

Random observation: Of course Randy yells awful stuff like “Put him in the dumpster!” when he sees a wee thing like Ryan Seacrest get hoisted in the air by a mob of dudes.

Joshua Ledet and Fantasia Barrino, “Take Me to the Pilot” A hot, honeyed catastrophe of straining sequins, frantic camera work (Idol Director: “They’ve gone and left the stage!”) and ridiculous holleration? Or two of the best Idol contestants of all time breaking free from musical convention and letting the Holy Spirit take over? My sane half says the former, but the part of me that lost my damn mind hollering and clapping says the latter, obviously! (Also: Is this song set on an airplane?) Grade: D+/A+

Random observation: My take-home message from that whole “Jimmy Iovine repeatedly referring to J.Lo as ‘Jessica’ during his results-show critique tapings”? Dude’s observations are as carefully groomed and managed as Ryan Seacrest’s eyebrows.

Chaka Khan and the Ladies of the Top 12, “Ain’t Nobody”/”Through the Fire”/”I’m Every Woman” I’m not 100 percent sure the music of Chaka Khan brought out the best in any of the Season 11 chicas — though Elise sounded surprisingly solid growling it up on that disco nugget “Ain’t Nobody.” It’s also a shame that Chaka didn’t take notes from John Fogerty/Jennifer Holliday/Reba McEntire about how to engage with the Idols — namely, don’t treat them like underpaid backup singers. They’re the ones pulling in 20 million viewers, after all. Then again, maybe Chaka couldn’t see over her breasts? File under: #PantsuitFail Grade: C

Rihanna, “Where Have You Been” She hasn’t been going to her vocal lessons, that’s one place she hasn’t been. This was all writhing bodies and Egyptian-themed set pieces and pre-recorded vocals, signifying that there’s something really wrong with how we’re choosing our hitmakers nowadays. Grade: D

Skylar Laine & Reba McEntire, “Turn on the Radio” The camera work and sound mix on this performance malfunctioned harder than Fantasia’s stylist. But dangit all, Skylar and Reba’s pumped-up pipes and effervescent stage presence turned it into one of the night’s most enjoyable moments. It’s amazing that a teenager who just finished fifth on a televised singing competition can hold her own — without the slightest bit of awkwardness or trepidation — opposite one of the true legends of country music. Prediction: In five years’ time, Skylar will have sold more records than anyone from Season 11. (Which is not a knock on any of the contestants of Season 11. Skylar’s just gonna sell a lot of records.) Grade: A-

Random observation: Tell me I’m not the only one who half-gagged at that “two become one” image of Steven Tyler embracing a live sloth.

Jessica Sanchez, “I Will Always Love You” Nigel Lythgoe, seriously, clear more songs for these kids! Jessica sounded as powerful and potent as ever on this encore presentation of her Top 13 Week number, but right down to her blue ballgown, all the details were exactly the same. I mean, why buy the Idol Season Finale when you can get the milk for free on YouTube, if that makes any sense? Grade: B+

Neil Diamond and the Top 12 guys (minus Phillip), “America”/”Cracklin Rosie”/”I’m a Believer” True confession: I don’t care for medleys in general. And I especially didn’t care for this medley in particular. Which is not to say that everything in life needs to play to the 18-34 demographic — otherwise you might as well take me out to the field with a fresh-baked Cinnabon and a blunt object — but everybody involved seemed like they would’ve been more excited to get their hands caught in the door of Jessica’s new Ford whateverthatcarwas. Grade: C

Idol Top 10 (minus the Top 2), “Sing the Phone Book,” A brutal skewering of Randy Jackson’s turgid critiques is always appreciated. But the closing bit of this number — with Joshua getting carried away in a fit of Gospel showboating, and his fellow Idols giving him the exhausted side eye — was a hilarious bit of self-deprecating humor from Season 11’s third-place finisher. Grade: A-

J.Lo and Some People Who Flew in On Pogo Sticks of the Future, “A ‘song’ from a new Step Up movie not starring Channing Tatum and his meaty brand of hotness”/”And also another ‘song'” Ooh, her lipsynch game is as tight as…actually, her pants were shockingly baggy this time around, no? Grade: Girl, don’t you make enough money from Idol and movies and all your product endorsements that you can stop pretending to be a singer now? (J.Lo: “Enough. A 2002 thriller starring yours truly and that dude from The Killing. Get it on Blu-Ray today on Amazon.com for $14.99.”)

Random observation: WHAT IF ACE YOUNG’S HAIR AND DIANA DEGARMO’S BANGS HAVE A BABY TOGETHER?

Hollie Cavanagh and Jordin Sparks, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” Perhaps not the most inventive, unexpected performance in Idol finale history, but sometimes isn’t it enough to have two lovely ladies belting a ballad with charm and style to spare? Why yes, sometimes it is! Grade: B+

Top 12 guys (minus Phillip), Bee Gees medley Yikes. Nobody told me When Harmonies Attack was returning to the Fox lineup. (That said, Joshua’s “To Love Somebody” kinda rescued the medley, even if it was yet another retread from earlier in the season.) Grade: C

Jessica Sanchez and Jennifer Holliday, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” Holy face-pulling, Batman! La Holliday’s expressions ping-ponged from rage to elation to suspicion to defiance and all the way to “SAAAANG HEFFFUH!” — and I could not get enough. If Steven Tyler needs someone to help him understand the meaning of “over the top,” the search is finished. I loved how the original Broadway Dreamgirl shook and cajoled Jessica using only her eyes and her powerhouse vocal, somehow managing to get the Season 11 finalist to dig even deeper into her reserves of soulful growl, and counter with what’s likely the performance of her young lifetime. Jessica may not have won the title of American Idol, but as far as I’m concerned this duet was the telecast’s biggest prize, one of the all-time great moments this show has ever given us. The end. Grade: A++

Jessica & Phillip, “Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong” A sweet little interlude to take us past 10:00 pm, and thereby cut into Idoloonies’ Revenge time (over on ABC). No, I’m not sure why Jessica wore violet curtains, or why Phillip couldn’t be bothered to wear a dress shirt underneath his tux, but I’ve seen a lot worse outfits on the Idol stage and in my own closet, so lemme just shut my pie hole. Grade: A-

Phillip, “Home” Whether or not you voted for the 21-year-old pawn-shop worker, it was hard not to get a little choked up watching him try (then fail) to get through his lilting coronation single. Because regardless of race, gender, or musical style, at the end of the Idol season, these three things must remain: Hugs, confetti, and tears. But the greatest of these is tears. So thank you, Phillip Phillips for doing your championly duty, and best of luck on the charts! Grade: A

And with that, I thank all of you for joining me for another “Idol journey.” But remember: It’s not over yet! I’ll have an interview with executive producer Nigel Lythgoe posting here at TVLine on Thursday, Idology interviews with the Top 5 contestants running over the next couple weeks, and plenty of galleries and post-season goodies comin’ ‘atcha, too.

So with that, I turn things over to you: What did you think of the final two hours of Season 11? What were your favorite performances? What do you think of Phillip’s win? And was the J.Holl duet a good enough consolation prize for Jessica? Sound off below, and for all my Idol news, interviews, and recaps — including those extended video Q&As with the Idol Top 5 — follow me on Twitter @MichaelSlezakTV!

Here is my advice to anyone who cares to watch next year. Watch the tryouts and get a good laugh. Skip everything until the finale. Here’s what you will miss. Investing your time and votes into someone you grow to really like. The absolutely horrifying nonsense that is considered judging. The apologies from Jimmy I for given the young singers the wrong material. The pimping of the judges for a particular contestant/contestants no matter how good or bad they are. NO CONSTRUCTIVE ADVICE WHATSOEVER. Watching with disappointment as the better talent gets voted off one by one in favor the WGWG most likely anyway. (Assuming there is one, and for the last 5 years there has.)
What you will see if you’re lucky. An amazing performance like Jennifer/Jessica and when the winner is crowned you may ask yourself, “how did that person not win.” Some fun and sometimes pretty good filler. You will get a sample of the other contestants and think wow some of that was pretty good. If JLO is there another JLO performance. And probably another Aerosmith performance. You’ll get a lot of glitter and flash.
You will know from the intro who will win so if you want to change the channel before the reveal it won’t matter because you haven’t had to endure the agony of what you would have seen.
Quick, short and close to 5 months of your 3 hours a week of your life will be spared.
Like all shows that crown winners based on the public’s vote, it will always be a popularity contest.The days of Idol actually picking the most talented singer are gone for good.
Yes this is my primer on how to watch Idol from now on.

Actually, I skipped the auditions this year, but knew from the recappers that he was slated for the finale. Didn’t watch until Top 24. The only competition he had was Colton, who left too early. Next year, I’m gonna read the recaps for the WGWG in the auditions, and skip the season entirely.

Am I the only one who noticed during the outtakes by Jimmy Iovine when he kept on saying Jessica instead of Jennifer that Nigel ran in for a second?? This tells me Jimmys words are all scripted and that he knows the results by the time he comments on the previous nights performances.

Of course Jimmy knows the results before they tape his critiques. That’s why he suddenly had an about-face regarding his choice of “No More Drama” for Joshua. He was perfectly happy with that performance the night before, considering Joshua did exactly what Jimmy instructed him to do with it (“take it to church” – yawn). 90% of this show is scripted, right down to standing Os and judges’ “critiques”.

The finale was horrible besides Phillip winning and a few other moments. There was WAY too much screaming and not enough of the contestants IMO. I thought Skylar/Reba were really good, P2, nice to see the little parts of Colton/Deandre but there just wasn’t enough of them and Elise cause seriously? who needed to see Rihanna, Jennifer and other stars? and don’t even get me started on SCREAMTASIA and the 2 J’s and Jennifer Holliday. HIDIOUS! My ears and eyes were bleeding wanted to throw my tv out the window but P2 winning made up for it all so thank you all that voted for him lol

It’s as much of a music competition as DWTS is purely about dance. Any time you have fans voting it’s going to be at least in part about popularity. Looks matter; so does personality. It’s human nature, so deal with it.

No, we’re not here to discuss music, we’re here to discuss American Idol. Does Michael limit his recaps to music? No, he also discusse what the contestants wore, the staging, the judges, the contestants’ personalities. All of that combined, not solely music, makes the show what it is.

I don’t mind men commenting about female contestants being “hot”. It would bother me if you commented that Jessica was hot, but only because she’s a minor. And if you’re a 16 year old boy I’m okay with you saying Jessica is “hot”. As long as the female contestants are old enough to be considered adults I’m perfectly fine with comments that aren’t offensive. There’s certainly nothing wrong with commenting that a woman has nice eyes, pretty hair, a great body, etc. I guess you men have been attacked by the feminazis one time too many, LOL.

I don’t think it is misogynistic to say that a woman is “hot” so I have no problem with Krista’s remark about Phillip. The unmistakable truth (sorry Phil Phil fans but it is the truth and if you don’t believe me, look at so many of the posts here!) that his “hotness” is was probably the deciding factor in his win is what I have a problem with.

Well, to be perfectly honest, if Casey Abrams looked like PhilpPhil, he would have won the title last year. Looks are important in life, and Phil didn’t suffer from being cute – as far as this competition is concerned.

I know it’s been said, and I know I don’t post on here too often, but at the end of the day…Idol is not only a popularity contest, it’s a platform. Many contestants don’t do too well, but many others DO.

Kelli Pickler finished, what, fifth? She’s doing well. Adam Lambert is a beast. Fantasia hasn’t been a “chart topper” in the Top 40 sense but that woman has dominated on Broadway (which, by the way, once Jessica has a little more life experience and perhaps takes some acting lessons, I think she needs to head towards. I mean seriously, that girl could make a “wicked” (haha) Elphaba, an actual youthful Eponine (the show will get a revival or another tour in a few years), or HELL, star in the inevitable revival of Miss Saigon. Her voice is PERFECT for that role, no to mention the fact that she looks a little big like Lea Salonge. (And yes, people, race is important here. Would you cast a white guy as Martin Luther King, Jr in a biopic? Would you cast a black man as Charlie Chaplin? Would you cast a white guy as Othello? …oh wait. Yeah, I guess if the white guy is Lawrence Olivier, you would…)

Anyway, while some Idol contestants fall into obscurity, many of the talented ones make it. And this season has shown us a LOT of talent, and that is one thing I truly believe we can all agree on.

WGWG5 FTW, but I’m happy for him. I was pleasantly surprised to see the emotion coming from Phillip at the end of the song. More than we saw from him for the whole season. Jessica will be signed by the end of the week, anyway.

That duet between Jennifer Holiday and Jessica Sanchez can be described in four words:
REE-DE-CUL-US!
That vocal gymnastics performed in that song can only be dreamed of by a different level of singer (Whitney, Mariah, Aretha, etc) Sorry some people could not appreciate greatness when it is before them. I am sure people laughed at Phillip and John F. as well but I guess it is all about perspective.

You are so right. Jessica is gifted. One of the finest singers I have ever heard on a show like this. There may be more out there as good. Who knows. That’s why for me, the end result was without doubt, at least for me THE most depressing of the 11 years this show has been on. When Ryan congratulated Phillip and said “you did it,” I was thinking, no you just had to show up every week and the contest was yours. It is the nail in the coffin for this show for me. And I will clarify that. It’s not just that Phillip won, it just that the most gifted vocalist didn’t, once again. And if everyone is honest his single is good in a Mumford and Sons kind of way, but it won’t have massive appeal and it won;t be a classic or anything, I would listen to this on a rainy day. But at least the song didn’t require Phil to push his voice and he did a good job. It was the only song this year, that for me at least, his vocals weren’t strained.

by the way, Whitney, Mariah, Jennifer Holiday, Aretha Franklin, Christina Aguilera and of course Jennifer Hudson would never make to the final on the Idol of the last 5 years or so. Like Pia last year they would make the top twelve and get booted somewhere near the bottom.

I agree, which is why (if you go way back to Vegas week), that Candice who sang with Jesssica and Deandre did not even get selected to be in the top 24. The judges know they will only have one or two female power vocalist and did not want to overlap Jessica and Candice.
Jessica had to be on the radar of AI for at least a year because of her huge youtube following and being right there in southern california.

The fact that Jessica was “voted off” during top seven week was atrocious but I will admit it is what got me to start voting for her on a weekly basis because like many others we just believe her talent would easily push her into the top 5, then it would be time to get serious.

The only way a true vocalist (male or female) will win AI again is to ban instruments once more.

Agree on most, Michael, except: HATED HATED HATED the overwrought, over the top diva fest of Jessica and Jennifer. If I never have to hear another diva ballad it can’t be too soon. I wish Jessica would just use her gifts and sing something fun, something I want to listen to over and over. And I want the 10 minutes of my life back that I wasted watching that atrocious Rihanna “lets masquerade that fact this this ‘song’ only has twelve words” mess on stage (I used like like some of Rihanna’s stuff…Russian Roulette, Disturbia…she’s been dumbed down to the max) as well as that awful JLo thing.You ARE SO RIGHT about what’s wrong with the hitmakers.

And whoever dressed Fantasia should be shunned. All I could think of was “Oh, Fantasia, no.” And then, STOP MESSING WITH A GREAT ELTON SONG. I think Joshua is a tremendous performer, but all that screeching x5 lost me totally.

Skylar WILL have a great career…and I am not even a country fan. And YES, there should have been more time for the others to shine with the stars, per se. Erika, in her brief sopts, proved how tremendous she is!

And P2 won me over with the coronation song. Finally, a great one. I will probably never listen to Jessica again if she continues with the material they gave her. P2, though, has piqued my interest.

Look at who the “hitmakers” are these days and you all have to admit that being a gifted vocalist does not matter one iota. Its totally wrong, but so true. That’s one reason why we Glamberts have to work so hard for Adam Lambert! His talent, and his stage presence, are off the charts. But that guarantees NOTHING.

If you have an artist on Idol you love, whether that person wins or not isnt the issue. Jessica and Joshua will both get contract. Now fans have to step up to the plate and buy their music. That’s what really matters—or American Idol is nothing more than a game show.

Since I did not have a clear horse in this race (Elise FTW!!!!), I’m gonna try and keep this unbiased. I want to start by saying that I like Phillip, and I don’t want to turn this into a bashing. However, I have to reiterate what some people are saying.

We’ve had, in my opinion, the strongest season of female contestants EVER (think about it hard; Elise, Erika, Skylar, Hollie, and Jessica kicked some serious ass), yet NONE of them could beat Phillip.

Phillip fans, People aren’t mad AT Phillip, BUT B/C with such strong female talent, a woman still can’t win this competition and that makes people mad.

It makes us not want to invest in the season, b/c it feels as if only one group can win this season. I do agree that its NOT FAIR to judge Phillip on being a “WGWG” but at the same time you can’t deny the trend for the last few seasons.

Basically, people aren’t mad at Phillip himself. They’re mad at the obvious truth that women just can’t seem to catch a break, and that they’re judged much harshly.

You can’t deny that Phillip coasted some weeks and still didn’t land in the bottom 3
(Time of the Season anyone???). He did bring it the last few weeks but to me that simply wasn’t enough. While I agree that having a strong sense of artistic identity is important, which Phillip DEFINITELY has, the bottom line is that this is still a singing competition and you need to have the vocal chops to win, which unfortunately I feel he didn’t have to warrant a victory.

However, I still wish congratulations to Phillip and I hope his fans won’t abandon him after the show. Sorry for the long rant but I feel that we need to address the female issue with American Idol if Season 12 is going to be any good.

I loved the Skylar/Reba song. I’ve called Skyler “Reba Junior” all season. I am not a country fan, but I looked forward to all of Skyler’s performances this season. Reba gets my respect for treating Skyler like an equal during their song. The energy was great and they both sounded awesome!

My husband IS a huge country fan and Reba fan, and he positively loved the performance. And I agree – Reba treated Skylar as an equal. But if you know anything about Reba,what you see is what you get. She’s just a down to Earth Okie.

The only thing I realized was that Hollie is not in Jordin’s league. And a bit of nostalgia for the days when a pure singer could still win Idol. She wasn’t my choice in Season 6, but my that girl can sing.

i can’t forget the duet of JH and JS!!!it was amazing!!!well,jennifer holiday gave me the emotion and facial expression that i was looking for jessica.Glad that she get along with JH.about the itunes-well,i just hope that her album would be for young generation! i mean like songs of adelle or atleast catchy songs like lady gaga songs because she already have the voice.I know now that she will be guided very well by right producers and train to dance(i hope she can because she said she doesn’t usually dance).
I am disappointed with the results but i have nothing bad to say to PP,he is a nice,humble and down to earth guy-when he was asked why he won over jessica,he said he also don’t know.And jessica is humble too,she said PP deserves it and she pointed out that PP is the most talented among any other idol this season(interview after the finale results).
hope these two will be successful-

I’m sure it has been mentioned before, but I don’t have the time to read through all of the comments. Here goes: Joshua needs another idol, because Fantasia is not it. She looked and sounded a hot mess last night, and made what could have been a defining moment for Josh into a joke. I’m a huge Joshua fan, and he deserved better. Ugh.

Completely agree. When he began, I thought it was such a neat choice and that it might have been a good song to do while still in the competition. But once Fantasia came out is was just plain shrieking. I felt awful for him to get saddled with that.

I’m with you. Problem is, I’m not sure Joshua understands this. He’s better than that mess, but it looks like this is what he’s aspiring to. I HOPE he gets top notch mentoring on how to refine his style. He’s bursting with raw talent.

Yes, totally agree. Subtlety can be a fierce tool in a singer’s cannon. If Joshua would’ve sang a simple song WITHOUT all the theatrics and screaming and shouting at the end of EVERY song it wuld have done wonders for him.

Think back to Adam Lambert. He could scream as well as Joshua but I can think of a couple times he just sang a song in a very quiet, beutiful tone — Mad World and Tears Of A Clown.

If Joshua would’ve done this on a song like Imagine I think he may have had a real Idol Moment and stuck around another week.

Could not agree more. And Josh did prove that he is capable of subtlety and tenderness. I just think his churchy self was egged on by people who should have known better, and he got carried away – like on “Imagine”. *sigh*, if only he took a page out of Adam’s playbook. Now, there was some strategic game-playing. Not that Josh could have overcome the runaway P2 train, but he might have bested Jessica, and we would have had a much more fun finale, lol.

It’s American IDOL, not World Idol, not American Diva, not American Singer.
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The word Idol, to me, is indicative of a contestant/winner having more than pure vocal ability – originality, artistry, the ability to inspire a fan base. Bottom line is they’re ALL winners, Joshua and Jessica and Phillip. America simply voted to give Phillip the trophy and the prize. Get over it. The boy deserves it. He knows who he is and has the ability to use his talent to translate that knowledge into song while still remaining true to himself and keeping his originality intact. He didn’t once sing a song and (perfectly or not) strive for mimicking the original artist.
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Also, worth noting – he chose songs from a range of sources, not just diva ballads. He didn’t turn every song choice into a gospel track, didn’t give everything he sang the same spin. He understood the lyrics and (more importantly) seemed to already KNOW them (“Home” notwithstanding).
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The votes aren’t rigged; they’re not gender-based. Granted, allowing multiple votes per viewer/person does skew the results a bit. AI needs revamping to remain successful, that’s for sure.
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I, for one, love all flavors of music – but classic rock and modern alternative are my go-tos. My preference will always be Fogerty, Seger, Joel, and Thomas/Matchbox over Mariah and Whitney and Dion. Who knows, maybe the majority of AI voters have the same taste.
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Heck, I’m even from the Philippines, and a female. I voted for Phillip and I’m sure as hell not a “tween” with a crush.
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P.S. -> I’d love a female artist to win, as would the rest of America I am certain, But I haven’t seen one in recent seasons who was enough of a well-rounded package. Again, so you she sing. So she can copy the range and perfection and inflections of another artist. So what? I certainly didn’t NOT vote for Jessica because of her gender. Her music just isn’t my thing. Neither is Joshua’s.

I thought Crystal and Lee were very much in the same wheelhouse, but Crystal more talented/interesting. Recently, I was listening to Pandora and a song I didn’t know, but liked, came on. When I looked at the display, it was Lee Dewyze. When I looked at the song, it was something he’d done before his Idol stint. Guess it all depends on how well you handle the Idol stage and ‘production’ as to how you get perceived. PP did well in that regard I think.

I agree, and I respect you’re opinion. But I think part of the problem comes in your review, through NO fault of your own. It seems that there’s been a change in mentality for everyone.

I have to disagree and say that there have been worthy female talents; Crystal, Haley, Allison (although I was perfectly happy w/ Kris winning) in the past. But the problem is WE EXPECT more from the female vocalists.

Let’s be honest here, judging on their body of works, Jessica won hands down vocally. But I think the audience judged her flaws much more harshly than Phillip’s, and this is another problem that needs to be addressed.

Judging NEEDS to be equal next year. Wipe the Judges clean next year is my suggestion.

Michael, I hope you once again bring up the question to Nigel – How a female contestant has any hope against fours hours of unlimited phone/text/online voting? – Tell him this question came from someone who used to vote but sees no point in investing a reasonable, grown-up amount of time when the girls will fritter away hours of their lives…

I honestly thought she had had a stroke. One of my friends pointed out that what works on the stage is the over-the-top crap that she was doing last night. But Idol is a TV show first. Yes, the Nokia has thousands of audience members, but the show reaches millions on TV. A seasoned performer should know her audience.

This time next year they will be saying Phillip Who? The final two should have been Joshua & Jessica . Stick a fork in it this show is done. I was also annoyed at the original song they gave Jessica . It was a set up for her to fail. When I heard the song I knew Phillip was going to win. Jessica & Joshua will go far.

No one knows how well any of these “idols” will be thought of a year from now. All of the 3 finalists have an uphill battle. Much was made about Fantasia the year she won and she seems to be an afterthought now (and after seeing her last night, it’s clear why). Being talented and being commercially successful are two very different things.

As an aside, after seeing Slezak’s top 25 performances yesterday, I looked up some of Kelly Clarkson’s performances (including the one he ranked). She was far more interesting than many many since. And how nice to see she wasn’t dressed up like a tart in 6 inch heels every performance.

This is what Annie Barrett at EW wrote about how some fans of either one of the contestants are vicious to the other contestant. I love what she wrote:

“This season, more than ever, it seemed like so many viewers deluded themselves into assuming that the support of one of these kids implied hatred of the other. Are you kidding me? It’s a reality show! They’ll both get to make records! They’ve both gotta have it, Ryan! Ugh, sorry, it’s just a bizarre sentiment that’s run rampant across the internet for the past few weeks AND I AM TELLING YOU I find it utterly ridiculous.

If American Idol fans can’t find a way to be happy for an aw-shucks guy who was so overcome with emotion that he couldn’t even finish his coronation song, even for a split second, I don’t know why they put themselves through the torture of even watching this mess. No one’s ever going to figure out a way to get inside America’s collective ear and tweak it so that their favorite is the favorite. People like who they like. That’s what’s great about music. There’s more than enough to go around.”

Yea, that’s my sentiments, but – this is a competition. So there will be a winner and a loser. Puts a sports mentalilty about. For example, if I’m a Denver Broncos fan, I hate the Oakland Raiders. Nothing nice about, it’s goes with being a fan of that team. Where this show has gotten tiresome is the utter predicatability of the outcome – something the NFL understands, because there is a different Super Bowl winner every year. And for that, it’s not worth wasting your time on. It’s amazing the things you can do if you put this show aside and move on to other things. And in 2 weeks, we all will have moved on. Jessica, Joshua, Skylar, Hollie and P2 will be but a distant memory.

This season IMO had the strongest top 12 that I remember. But last night’s finale was the weakest one in memory. Except for the phone book song, where were the comedy bits that made us laugh out loud? Most of the musical numbers were a hot mess. John Fogerty and Neil Diamond are not the singers they used to be. The vocals in the tribute to Robin Gibb were horribly out of tune, but yes, Joshua almost saved it. Fantasia — ewww! Chaka Khan sounded (and looked) awful.

More of my random thoughts: Why, oh why didn’t LaToya win Season 3? She had class, not that mess from last night. JHud was good that season, but I thought LaToya was better. Umm, Chaka? Congrats on losing the weight, but can you please dress your age? Or like someone 20 years younger? I love me some Reba, but she seemed kind of . . .subdued last night. Something was off. Jennifer Holliday, in all her masterful craziness, elevated Jessica’s performance last night. Maybe she should be off stage in the wings at Jess’ concerts, scaring her into bringing emotion to her performances.

132 MILLION votes + lowest ratings of Idol in series end history = horny cougars, queens & teens voting for hours who only buy 1 CD and/or ticket if they have disposable income and don’t illegally download the winning CD (which most under 35 do). I’m sure tarc probably accounted for 120 million votes alone. If I’m doing my math correctly, Phillip should sell about 15 CD’s in the end to friends and family! Bravo America! Huzzah! Seacrest out!

I have it on good authority that tarc used fairy dust to fly from time zone to time zone to keep voting all night. There were reports all over the country of a low flying oddly shaped UFO screaming in a high pitched voice “He sounds nothing like Dave Matthews” across the land. Air Force fighters were prepared to take him down but they were distracted by the sudden sound of Phillip Phillip’s “Time of the Season” cover in their headsets and forced to eject to safety.

Just because he won it’s because “horny cougars,queens and teens” think he’s good looking? Did you receive a list of people that voted for him? C’mon what a cop out, every time a guy has won the only reason for it that internet trolls come up with is teen girls or “cougars” power voting. He won because of his fans and their appreciation for his music. Jessica had an equal chance of winning I mean she didn’t make it to the final two for no reason she obviously has fans too (and no don’t say her fans don’t power vote because I HIGHLY doubt that)..

lol have you ever been to any of the concerts in any of the tours? They are literally packed with older women. I remember in season 8, this overweight, over-middle-aged woman had an unfortunate Adam Lambert face tattoo on her back. I love Adam but that was just laughable

I loved the JH\JS duet if only because JH voice is so hugh that it could take the entire place over, I dont even think she needed a mic if she didnt want it.. the great part was she didnt dial it back a a hairs width and just challenged jesscia to put it all out there or get overtaken … JS killed it and I was trying to think of other Idols who could have not been embarrassed … Hudson, Lakisha, maybe Kelly C, Melinda (maybe), Joshua possibly.. Pia and Hollie would have gotten blown out .trying to think who else …

The producers will make sure a girl wins next year somehow and end the WGWG problem. They troll blogs too and with enough complaints, they’ll just stack the deck with overly talented girls and unattractive guys with no musical talent. Just wait! It’ll happen. Or, they could just do the sensible thing and limit the number of votes. First, though, they will need a sponsor other than AT&T who I’m sure makes a profit from power texting.

No, she’s got to have the presence that Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks did. She has to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that she’s there to WIN. She’s got to be the one that even the silliest little girl would vote for over the cute boy.

First of all, IMO all the singers should be a least 18 years old, I don’t care how mature you are you are still a kid at sixteen. Saying that I think Jessica had a amazing voice when given a great ballad, just like a thousand other singers can, but for me she was very robotic on stage. As for Phillip, no not the greatest singer, but he has a “it” factor, and no I am not a young tween voting hundreds of times, I don’t even vote, but I am at a age that I see a Bruce or a Paul Simon in there, and I will be buying his first CD with out a doubt. He will have a lot of cross overs, fans who like country, older fans, young fans, and fans of music who loved Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Simon and James Taylor. Unlike TV, it doesn’t matter who buys your music, it is all about the volume.

Okay enough with the WGWG BS, and it is BS, because it would totally be politically incorrect if this would be different lettering in regards to other singers on this show.

In regards to Phillip, I think he felt like crap most weeks, and I really hope he get’s well after his operation, because I think we has a great future.

Thanks, Sid, for a rational viewpoint. Getting really tired of all the WGWG putdowns. So what? Over on The Voice, they’ve had two “soulful” winners in a row, and how many records will they sell, I wonder? Phillip should have a great career–after all, some of those 132 million voters have to buy records, don’t they??

Hey, Old Cougar. 132 million voters is a serious stretch. Only a fraction of that number represents individula voters who log in hundreds of votes each. Only a fraction of that fraction buy the music. History has shown us time and time again how it all goes down post-win.
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David Cook had 14 songs on the Billboard charts after his win. Everybody (including me) thought that he was about to conquer the world with his original music. He didn’t. Oh, Cook did very well with his first album, had a couple of radio hits, and soon fell off the radar with his second release, and never came back.
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The Idol boost is misleading. Philipl will have to be super lucky to have any long term massive success post-Idol. More realistic to expect him to carve out a modest following, and support himself with his music. .
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The biggest hurdle for these guys is finding an audience outside of Idol fans. Pray that Phil does this because if he doesn’t, he’ll be stuck with his insane and entitled core Idol audience who – while shelling out their money to support him – can drag him down by being overly possessive and overbearing. Harsh, but true.

It is impossible to compare these 2 because they are so different. They are both talented and have their own style. More people liked Phillip is the bottom line. It takes nothing away from Jessica. I voted for Phillip because I like his style better. Jessica is a fantastic singer but her style isn’t my cup of tea. I will buy a Phillip Phillip’s album. I won’t buy Jessica’s. It would be like the final 2 contestants being Beyonce and Dave Matthews. Both talented in their own right, but someone has to win and someone has to lose. So who do you vote for? The one who’s style you freper.

I agree, and I don’t understand why people are outraged that Phillip won. No one is saying Jessica isn’t amazing. They were both great but more people chose to vote for Phillip. And it has nothing to do with race. That’s ridiculous. More people related to Phillip’s style than they did to Jessica’s.

Jessica/Jennifer Holliday was really the first performance that has ever MOVED me, like litterally I never ever have my mouth wide open with the biggest grin on my face/laughing at the same time in such joy while watching someone sing. That was truly the best performance I have EVER seen on Idol, and possibly in my life. Simply. Amazing. I felt like a winner just watching it,

and what is the whole package exactly? Seems like it has to be a “specific package” to win this show. white, attractive, with guitar, “nice guy”, “hard-working”, preferably southern +Christian.

What about stage presence? rhythm? (including dance ability). commanding an arena full of people. Swagger. Mass Appeal, not just a certain voting bloc appeal. Spunk. A sense of humor. Style even. There were only two contestants this season who had all necessary traits for the “whole package” and they were Joshua and Skylar.
Phillip may have deserved the title but don’t insult true all-rounders like Josh and Skylar by insinuating Phillip won because he had the whole package.

there are tons of pop artists that could be labelled the whole package who don’t play guitar… lady gaga, adele, usher, etc. especially in the genre that joshua is probably going to go into (r&b/soul), very few artists play guitar… fantasia, mary j. blige are both successful and they don’t play.

Um, many of those people you mentioned DO play guitar and other instruments. MANY gospel/R&B singers play guitar. AND many, if not most, of those people play piano or SOME instrument since the big deal isn’t necessarily that one plays guitar, it’s that since Idol has allowed instruments, musicians that play guitar or other instruments have been more popular and have won—because THAT IS WHAT PEOPLE LIKE.

and a whole package IS someone that plays an instrument as well. and writes their own music. Someone who writes music, plays instruments, sings and can command an audience is WAY more impressive and talented than someone who just stands there and sings someone else’s music. That’s why people like WGWG’s–because they are all-around talented—a WHOLE package.

omgggg you phillip fans are rabid, i didn’t even say a word about him, i voted for him. i’m just saying that there were other contestants that were the whole package, not just him.

i know some of those artists play guitar, but it isn’t part of their acts or their concerts. name one gospel/r&b singer who plays guitar on stage. if that isn’t the kind of act he’s going to be, why would he play an instrument on idol? also who’s to say that joshua doesn’t play an instrument? skylar was discouraged from playing an instrument on stage, we don’t know for sure. anyway, some of the best acts in music didn’t/don’t write their own songs – whitney houston, aretha franklin, celine dion, the jackson 5, chaka khan, etc. again, we don’t know that joshua doesn’t write music. you cannot deny that he is a very musical kid, with tons of very raw talent. i’m sure he has it in him to write music if he so wishes.

and by your own definition, skylar is the whole package – she writes music, plays an instrument, commands the stage, and has a powerful voice. the same could be said for elise. you just don’t care because you don’t want to bone her.

Seriously? Did you READ anything I wrote? Um and I may not want to “bone” Elise or Skylar, as you so eloquently put it—but I DO care that they are the whole package, I was a HUGE fan of both. Oh, and the Jackson’s didn’t write their own music, eh? Wow, I think that will be big news to them. Why don’t you go and do some reading up on musicians because you obviously have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to music.

@Katie Thank you for stating that last part. Because I wasn’t even a big Skylar fan (I loved some of her covers but her twang annoyed me sometimes) but both she and Elise have more powerful voices than P2 and are musicians on top of being vocalists. And they played those instruments on the stage too. And yet… Anyone daring to say anything bad about P2 winning keeps getting slammed with “he’s the whole package, that’s what people want to listen to, he’s current, look at the charts!!!!!111!111!!!” And, yeah, right, AI winners have never reflected the actual Billboard charts. If that were the case, no other contestant would ever sell more than the winner and that’s often not what happens. Contrary to what the producers want to make everyone believe, not the whole of America watches or even cares about Idol. So, no, the winner doesn’t reflect what the whole country wants, just what the AI viewers want. And most of the AI viewers, regardless of whether they’re teen girls or cougars or whatever, apparently care more about looks and sob stories than vocals. If Elise or Skylar had delivered a musical massacre like Time of the Season, they’d have been crucified on stage. So, pardon the crudeness, but P2 is just lucky that he’s the “whole package” with something more between his legs. If that’s what these rabid P2 defenders want, fine, just admit it once and for all and stop trying to justify it with the whole “he’s a unique artist” (he’s not) or “look at the charts” (he’s no Adele, he’s no Gaga, he’s no Carrie).

@Marsaili
Talking about The Jackson 5 as a group, not as solo artists, which is why I wrote “The Jackson 5” (………….)
Obviously you are the exception, then. He has a lot of fans on here that deny that there is anything fishy when it comes to WGWG wins. There are other contestants equally as “original”, “unique”, “creative”, and “the whole package” that aren’t receiving the amount of support he received. Personally, I don’t think that the whole package means you must write your own music, but that’s my opinion.

I thought that was the most boring show last night with the exception of Jennifer Holiday and Jessica. That I could have listen to forever. But the rest? Especially the Neil Diamond themes…sorry but those boys were out of tune. The Harmony was awful.

So iTunes is posting the chart positions of the Idol contestants since the competition is over. P2 has 15 songs in the Top 200, including #1. The other entrants are Jessica at #138 with 1 and Joshua at #156 with 1. It seems folks voted with the most important thing to an artist’s career – sales! Congrats to Phillip! He earned his title!

So it seems Jimmy agrees with the girl voting and WGWG and that it didn’t come down to that one ‘winners’ song :

But, he cautioned, “I don’t think it came down to that one song. Phillip had that country base, that young girl thing going on.”

That ‘young girl thing’ raised what’s been a common criticism of Idol in recent years. Point-blank asked if “anyone other than a white male guitarist can win this show,” Iovine quipped, “Not this year. I don’t know. I don’t know how it really happens.”

“This is a crazy thing,” he said. “The hard part right now is leaving this behind you, and now go make your first album. I have great hopes for both of them.”

and for everyone who keeps denying the teen girl voting, do you not remember how many times its been said on the show that Philip has that huge wall of girls behind him? That its him VS Colton for the girl votes….? SO how can u even deny that lmao.

No one ever denied that there are girls voting for him—but they are not the ONLY people voting for him and I have a feeling that more adults who appreciate him for his music are voting than teenage girls.

OK, Phillip earned his first number one song today. Also today, they revealed that the reason he didn’t participate in many of the Ford commercials was that he had *eight* surgeries during the series to remove kidney stones. He’ll be having one more in a few days to reconstruct his kidneys, fortunatly only requiring 2-4 weeks of recovery, so he’ll be good for the tour. I cannot imagine how much pain the guy must have been in. I’m kind of speechless about this.